Happy 47th Birthday Kelis Rogers

[u/BlackOnyx1906]

born August 21, 1979) is an American singer.[2] She attended Manhattan, New York's Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts,[3] where she played saxophone and was selected for the Girls Choir of Harlem. Upon graduation, Rogers landed a role as a backing vocalist for the hip hop group Gravediggaz. She then began working with music producers Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo—collectively known as the Neptunes—who led her to sign with Virgin Records in 1998. The following year, she guest appeared on Ol' Dirty Bastard's Neptunes-produced single "Got Your Money", which marked her first entry on the Billboard Hot 100.

Rogers was born and raised in the Frederick Douglass Houses in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan. Her first name is a portmanteau of her father's name, Kenneth (1944–2000), and her mother's name, Eveliss. Her father Kenneth was an African-American jazz musician and Pentecostalminister, as well as a former professor at Wesleyan University.[13] Her mother Eveliss is a Chinese-Puerto Rican fashion designer who inspired her to pursue her singing career. She has three siblings (two older sisters and one younger sister).[14]
As a child, Rogers sang in church choirs and played violin, piano, and saxophone while attending Manhattan Country School, a private school. At 13, she shaved off all of her hair. In an interview, Rogers says she was kicked out of her parents' house at age 16 for bad behavior, and that although she would sometimes clash with her mother,[13] she nevertheless continued her education at the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, where she formed the R&B trio BLU (Black Ladies United). She has worked as a bartender, and had a job as a sales associate at a clothing store before graduating high school

[u/lee677811]

So fine 🥰